LUISAMARIA HERNANDEZ
SOPRANO | VOCALIST & STORYTELLER
"Prisoner of Mercy"
Dearest reader,
I am excited to announce that my first storytelling venture as a librettist is currently being workshopped and produced by an amazing group of creatives!
As a storyteller, I am committed to telling the stories of real people. This piece is a labor of love which came to me while on retreat in the Georgia mountains. Nothing in life is easy, but there has certainly been an ease to how this project has developed over the past few months. This has led me to believe that the time is now!
I invite you to stay tuned for updates and reach out if you'd like to support this project in any way.
In the meantime, don’t forget to show mercy to all you meet.
Thank you for your time, and mercy on.
With love and admiration,
Luisamaria
About "Prisoner of Mercy"
“Prisoner of Mercy" is a new opera performance piece featuring a multidisciplinary approach to storytelling. POM focuses on interviews which tell the stories of Tethered - a man who is in prison for life, Misunderstood - a person struggling with addiction, and Broken - women who have had abortions. The firsthand accounts of each individual person's experience aims to show that receiving mercy can impact us more than the systemic and societal prejudice that comes from stigmatized life experiences.
The journey so far...
February 2022
March 2022 - July 2022
April 2022
Present day
While taking in the Georgia mountain air I asked God "what am I doing here?" The answer came in the form of three words: mercy, redemption, and chains. From there, "Prisoner of Mercy" was born.
Everything seemed to come together as I started talking about POM as more than just a dream. The invitations to share went out and people said "YES". Since then, I have been interviewing some of the bravest people I have ever had the pleasure of talking to. Their stories are gripping and human and I can't wait for you to hear them.
From the moment the idea came to me I knew I could not do this alone, so I started to assemble a team of creatives to collaborate with. As fate would have it, some of the coolest and most thoughtful artists I know said "YES" and so, the story continues ...
The spark is back, the stories have evolved and it is time to get to work. A preview will happen next Fall 2025 and I could not be more excited. I keep asking myself, how in the world do I get to do this?
Sunday, May 29, 2022
On what felt like the most beautiful summer day, the POM Team finally assembled in Cambridge, MA for the first "Prisoner of Mercy" Concept Meeting and Preview!! To say I was excited would be an understatement. I felt blessed, nervous, and giddy to be in a room that was filled with people rooting for this idea. The fact that other people saw that there is a need for mercy in our world filled my heart with so much joy!
October 27, 2022
We did it. We came together and presented the first preview of what we had so ardently worked on and guess what? People got it! They saw the vision, got excited about mercy and now the hard work starts. Life will inevitably 'get in the way'. So the challenge now will be how do we keep going?
John-William Gambrell officially comes on board as composer of POM and stuff just got real - the team is expanding and I am a little scared but excited.
Spring 2023
October 2024
John called me ... he and his family are moving to NYC. I have been here for 6 months and have not written a thing. As predicted, life got in the way. But now, things are starting to happen and for the first time in a while, POM is center stage again.